A sarpanch's car was attacked in Maharashtra's Dharashiv when four people allegedly smashed the windshield of his SUV and hurled a condom filled with petrol into the vehicle, police said on Friday.
The incident took place at around 10 pm on Thursday evening in Tuljapur, an official said, adding that the sarpanch, Namdeo Nikam and another occupant of the car sustained injuries in the attack, PTI reported.
The sarpanch of Mesai Jawalga was heading towards the village from Barul in his SUV when four people on two motorcycles came near his car, an official said. They threw eggs on the windshield of Nikam's vehicle, the officer added.
The perpetrators smashed the car's windshield with an improvised concrete block that acted like a hammer. They also threw a condom filled with gasoline into the SUV and sprayed the flammable fuel on it, the official said.
Based on the sarpanch's complaint, a case was registered by the Tuljapur police under Section 110 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) alleging attempt to murder by negligence against four unidentified assailants, the official said.
Nikam lives in Pune and visits the village two to three times a week, the police sarpanch said. He also claimed that he had no enmity with anyone in the village, the official said, adding that a police investigation into the incident was underway.
The incident came amid outrage over the killing of another village head of Massajog village, Santosh Deshmukh. He was kidnapped and murdered on December 9th.
The investigation into the two cases related to the murder has been taken over by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the Maharashtra Police. The Criminal Investigation Department has formed a special investigation team headed by a deputy inspector general to investigate these cases.
Three people – Jairam Chate, Mahesh Kedar and Pratik Ghule – were arrested by the Crime Branch in connection with the case and their remand was extended till January 6.